Storytelling Strategy Board Game Method of Playing and Apparatus

ABSTRACT

A storytelling strategy board game, method of playing and apparatus, of placing tokens printed with alphabetic characters, numbers, symbols or images on groups of colored squares that occur pseudo-randomly on one of a large number of possible game boards assembled from game board segments, with the players telling a story based on the tokens they play.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/584,227 filed Jan. 7, 2012.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable; no government monies were used in the development of this product or its patent.

REFERENCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISK APPENDIX

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is in the technical field of board games. More particularly, the present invention is in the technical field of strategy board games. More particularly, the present invention is in the technical field of storytelling strategy board games.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a storytelling strategy board game for two to four persons which combines a storytelling requirement with a strategy board game. The game board is assembled from nine flat board segments. Each board segment is printed on both sides with pseudo-random arrangements of colored squares. Each side has sixteen colored squares, consisting of four squares each of the four game colors—red, yellow, green, blue—arranged in a four by four matrix. The board segments can be combined four at a time or nine at a time into a game board. When selecting and arranging the board segments to create a game board, the segments may be rotated or flipped over, allowing the creation of a large number of different game boards. The game board as assembled from the game board segments will have color groups consisting of one or more adjacent squares of the same color, which may all be on the same game board segment or may in some cases include squares from two or more adjacent game board segments. Players are assigned one of the four game colors and on each turn must place tokens on all the squares of a color group of the player's color. The color group must be adjacent to squares already occupied with tokens placed by other players, except at the beginning and in certain cases where that is not possible. The tokens are flat game pieces printed on one side with colors, numbers, letters, symbols or images and are used to tell a story as the tokens are placed on the board.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 through 18 are front and back views of the 9 game board segments of the present invention, referred to as segments A through I, as follows:

FIG. 1 shows the front view of segment A

FIG. 2 shows the reverse view of segment A

FIG. 3 shows the front view of segment B

FIG. 4 shows the reverse view of segment B

FIG. 5 shows the front view of segment C

FIG. 6 shows the reverse view of segment C

FIG. 7 shows the front view of segment D

FIG. 8 shows the reverse view of segment D

FIG. 9 shows the front view of segment E

FIG. 10 shows the reverse view of segment E

FIG. 11 shows the front view of segment F

FIG. 12 shows the reverse view of segment F

FIG. 13 shows the front view of segment G

FIG. 14 shows the reverse view of segment G

FIG. 15 shows the front view of segment H

FIG. 16 shows the reverse view of segment H

FIG. 17 shows the front view of segment I

FIG. 18 shows the reverse view of segment I

FIG. 19 is a sample game board assembled from four game board segments:

FIGS. 20 to 23 show the 4 color game tokens each printed with one of the four game colors as follows:

FIG. 20 shows the red color game token.

FIG. 21 shows the yellow color game token.

FIG. 22 shows the green color game token.

FIG. 23 shows the blue color game token.

FIGS. 24 to 49 show the twenty-six alphabetic game tokens A through Z.

FIG. 24 shows the A token.

FIG. 25 shows the B token.

FIG. 26 shows the C token.

FIG. 27 shows the D token.

FIG. 28 shows the E token.

FIG. 29 shows the F token.

FIG. 30 shows the G token.

FIG. 31 shows the H token.

FIG. 32 shows the I token.

FIG. 33 shows the J token.

FIG. 34 shows the K token.

FIG. 35 shows the L token.

FIG. 36 shows the M token.

FIG. 37 shows the N token.

FIG. 38 shows the O token.

FIG. 39 shows the P token.

FIG. 40 shows the Q token.

FIG. 41 shows the R token.

FIG. 42 shows the S token.

FIG. 43 shows the T token.

FIG. 44 shows the U token.

FIG. 45 shows the V token.

FIG. 46 shows the W token.

FIG. 47 shows the X token.

FIG. 48 shows the Y token.

FIG. 49 shows the Z token.

FIGS. 50 to 58 show the nine number game tokens 1 through 9.

FIG. 50 shows the 1 token.

FIG. 51 shows the 2 token.

FIG. 52 shows the 3 token.

FIG. 53 shows the 4 token.

FIG. 54 shows the 5 token.

FIG. 55 shows the 6 token.

FIG. 56 shows the 7 token.

FIG. 57 shows the 8 token.

FIG. 58 shows the 9 token.

FIGS. 59 to 144 show the image and symbol game tokens identified as follows:

FIG. 59 shows the railroad track game token.

FIG. 60 shows the ladder game token.

FIG. 61 shows the water game token.

FIG. 62 shows the fire game token.

FIG. 63 shows the happy game token.

FIG. 64 shows the unhappy game token.

FIG. 65 shows the shout game token.

FIG. 66 shows the amazed game token.

FIG. 67 shows the talkative game token.

FIG. 68 shows the stern game token.

FIG. 69 shows the glamour game token.

FIG. 70 shows the laughing game token.

FIG. 71 shows the clever game token.

FIG. 72 shows the cool game token.

FIG. 73 shows the bored game token.

FIG. 74 shows the crazy game token.

FIG. 75 shows the wicked game token.

FIG. 76 shows the timid game token.

FIG. 77 shows the shy game token.

FIG. 78 shows the sad game token.

FIG. 79 shows the tree game token.

FIG. 80 shows the sun game token.

FIG. 81 shows the cloud game token.

FIG. 82 shows the rain game token.

FIG. 83 shows the moon game token.

FIG. 84 shows the heart game token.

FIG. 85 shows the flower game token.

FIG. 86 shows the car game token.

FIG. 87 shows the truck game token.

FIG. 88 shows the boat game token.

FIG. 89 shows the plane game token.

FIG. 90 shows the bike game token.

FIG. 91 shows the radio game token.

FIG. 92 shows the music game token.

FIG. 93 shows the electricity game token.

FIG. 94 shows the hammer game token.

FIG. 95 shows the saw game token.

FIG. 96 shows the knife game token.

FIG. 97 shows the bottle game token.

FIG. 98 shows the apple game token.

FIG. 99 shows the balloon game token.

FIG. 100 shows the flag game token.

FIG. 101 shows the kite game token.

FIG. 102 shows the mountain game token.

FIG. 103 shows the house game token.

FIG. 104 shows the castle game token.

FIG. 105 shows the pyramids game token.

FIG. 106 shows the Eiffel Tower game token.

FIG. 107 shows the pagoda game token.

FIG. 108 shows the palm game token.

FIG. 109 shows the city game token.

FIG. 110 shows the farm game token.

FIG. 111 shows the fountain game token.

FIG. 112 shows the dog game token.

FIG. 113 shows the cat game token.

FIG. 114 shows the spider game token.

FIG. 115 shows the bird game token.

FIG. 116 shows the elephant game token.

FIG. 117 shows the fish game token.

FIG. 118 shows the bee game token.

FIG. 119 shows the jewel game token.

FIG. 120 shows the ring game token.

FIG. 121 shows the money game token.

FIG. 122 shows the Taj Mahal game token.

FIG. 123 shows the Leaning Tower game token.

FIG. 124 shows the Statue of Liberty game token.

FIG. 125 shows the Kremlin game token.

FIG. 126 shows the gift game token.

FIG. 127 shows the book game token.

FIG. 128 shows the candle game token.

FIG. 129 shows the umbrella game token.

FIG. 130 shows the stairs game token.

FIG. 131 shows the hat game token.

FIG. 132 shows the basket game token.

FIG. 133 shows the baby game token.

FIG. 134 shows the question game token.

FIG. 135 shows the exclamation game token.

FIG. 136 shows the star game token.

FIG. 137 shows the snowflake game token.

FIG. 138 shows the newspaper game token.

FIG. 139 shows the bridge game token.

FIG. 140 shows the key game token.

FIG. 141 shows the lock game token.

FIG. 142 shows the letter game token.

FIG. 143 shows the river game token.

FIG. 144 shows the bench game token.

FIGS. 145 to 152 depict an example game.

FIG. 145 shows tokens selected by the red player.

FIG. 146 shows tokens selected by the green player.

FIG. 147 shows the board position after the 2nd move.

FIG. 148 shows the board position after the 3rd move.

FIG. 149 shows the board position after the 5th move.

FIG. 150 shows the board position after the 6th move.

FIG. 151 shows the board position after the 7th move.

FIG. 152 shows the final board position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Game Board Segments and Game Board

Referring now to the invention in more detail, in FIG. 1 to FIG. 18 there are shown 9 flat game board segments, referred to as segments A through I, each printed on both sides, and each side having a pseudo-random arrangement of 16 colored squares, four squares of each of the 4 game colors—red, yellow, green, blue—arranged in a four by four matrix. On the drawings, the colors are represented as follows: red is represented by horizontal hatching fill, yellow is represented by empty fill, green is represented by horizontal and vertical cross hatching fill, and blue is represented by diagonal cross hatching fill. The board segments are combined side by side to make a game board, by selecting any 4 of the nine board segments to make a board having an 8 by 8 matrix of the colored squares, or by using all 9 board segments to make a board having a 12 by 12 matrix of colored squares. In using the board segments to make a board, the board segments may be rotated and/or flipped over, allowing for a large number of different arrangements of the colored squares on the assembled game board. For example, FIG. 19 shows 4 board segments combined to make a playing board, as follows:

In the upper left, the reverse of segment A rotated 90 degrees counter-clockwise

In the upper right, the front of segment I not rotated

In the lower left, the front of segment G rotated 90 degrees clockwise

In the lower right, the reverse of segment C rotated 90 degrees clockwise

In FIG. 19, the columns of the resulting game board are labeled 1 to 8, and the rows of the resulting game board are labeled 1 to 8. An individual square on the game board is referred to in this specification by its row and column number, separated by a comma and enclosed in square brackets. For example, the square in the third row and fifth column will be referred to as square [3,5]. On the assembled game board, adjacent squares of the same color make color groups of one or more squares. For example, in FIG. 19, the group of 4 green squares [4,2], [4,3], [5,3], [5,4] form a color group. Two of the green squares in the color group, [4,2] and [4,3], are from the upper left game board segment, and the other two green squares in the color group, [5,3] and [5,4], are from the lower left game board segment. Color groups may have one or more squares of the same color, and may be contained entirely on one game board segment, or may include squares from two or more adjacent game board segments.

In further detail, still referring to the current invention, the colored squares need to be of sufficiently large size to make it practical to place tokens on the squares, but not so large as to make the resulting game board too large, such as about one and one half inches square. The game board segments need to be of sufficient thickness to be rigid and to allow the segments to easily be placed abutting side by side to form a larger board without overlapping, such as about one-quarter inch thick. The construction details of the invention as shown in FIG. 1 to FIG. 18 are: the game board segments may be made of any sufficiently rigid material such as wood, cardboard or plastic.

Referring further to the invention in more detail, there are shown in FIG. 20 to FIG. 144, the top face of game tokens printed with colors, numbers, letters, symbols or images.

The game tokens need to be of sufficiently large size to be handled easily but small enough to fit over the squares of the game board without going outside the boundaries of the square, such as about one and one-quarter inches in diameter, and of sufficient thickness to be rigid but not too thick to be difficult to handle, for example about one-eighth inch thick. The construction details of the invention as shown in FIG. 19 to FIG. 144 are: the game tokens may be made of any sufficiently rigid material such as wood, cardboard or plastic.

Electronic Simulation of the Game

Referring now to the invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 144, the physical elements of game board segments and tokens may instead be simulated as virtual elements of an electronic game.

Advantages of the Invention

The advantages of the present invention include, without limitation, the increased entertainment value of the following features: the large number of variations of the game board possible by combining the game board segments in different arrangements which keeps the game fresh and new even when played many times; the mental challenge of anticipating which of multiple choices among the groups of squares of the player's color will maximize the chances of winning the game; the mental challenge of creating a story where different players take turns continuing the story; the mental challenge of having to think about both the board strategy and the story continuation in the same game.

Rules of the Game

1 “Adjacent” squares are squares on the board that are side by side, either left and right or up and down. Adjacent squares of the same color form a color group. A single square which is not adjacent to another square of the same color is also a color group consisting of just one square. 2. To begin play, the color tokens are picked out and shuffled face down and the players each select one color token. The color token selected becomes that player's game color. Game color determines the order of play—red, then yellow, then green, then blue. If fewer than 4 players are playing, not all the game colors will be used and the unused color tokens will be set aside and not used. 3 The player who is last in order selects and arranges the game board segments as he/she chooses. 4 The player who is first in order shuffles the remaining tokens face down and the players take turns in order selecting 11 tokens each if using an 8 by 8 board, or 21 tokens each if using a 12 by 12 board, and place them face up in front of themselves together with their color token. 5 The player who is first in order places tokens on all the squares of any group of his/her color, then begins telling a story inspired by the tokens he/she has played. The story should begin “Once upon a time . . . ”. 6 The player next in order must place tokens on a group of his/her color that is adjacent to squares that have already been played, and must continue the story as inspired by the tokens he/she has played on that turn. All the squares in the group must be used. If the player has fewer tokens remaining than the number of squares in a group, the player cannot play to that group. 7 If the player has no eligible groups of his/her color available to play to, the player must pass, except that if no players have any groups they can play to, the player may play to any group of his/her color for which he/she has sufficient tokens even if it is not adjacent to squares already played. 8 Each player continues in turn in a similar manner in the order determined by his/her color, repeating the order as necessary. 9 The color token must be played last and the color must be used in some way in the conclusion of the story. The winner is the player who first plays all of his/her tokens including the color token and completes the story. The winner should say, “The end.” 10 How the tokens are used in creating the story is up to the imagination of the player. For example, an alphabetic character could be the first letter of a word or of the name of a person or place, or anything else suggested by the letter. A numeral could be a person's age, a number of people, things, days, weeks, months, years, or anything else suggested by the number. You don't need to be too literal. Use puns and homonyms! Let your imagination run wild to find the meaning of the in the story!

Example Game

As an example of how the game is played, consider that two players are playing. The four color tokens are separated from the other tokens and are shuffled face down. Each player then selects one of the color tokens. Let's say that one player selects the green color token and the other player selects the red color token. The green player is last in order so selects game board segments and arranges them into a game board. Assume that the green player has selected and arranged four game board segments as shown in FIG. 19. The red player is first in order, so shuffles the remaining game tokens, not including the color tokens, face down. Each player then selects 11 tokens, placing them face up in front of themselves together with their color token. FIG. 145 shows game tokens that might be owned by the red player, and FIG. 146 shows game tokens that might be selected by the green player. Red goes first and may choose to place the bird, tree, and Eiffel Tower tokens on the red color group at squares [7,1], [7,2], [7,3], beginning the story by saying,

Once upon a time, on a lovely day in April, a bird was singing in a tree in Paris.

The green player then has a choice of playing to one of the two single-square green color groups adjacent to that at square [8,1] or square [8,3], and might place the A token on square [8,1], continuing the story by saying,

-   -   A young French woman named Adrienne was walking along the street         and stopped to listen to the bird.         After that, the game board would appear as shown in FIG. 147.         It's red's turn, but red has no color groups adjacent to squares         already played, and so must pass. Green can then play to square         [8,3] and may for example place the gift token on that square,         continuing the story by saying,     -   Adrienne was on her way to buy a gift for her mother's birthday,         and the bird song made her remember how much her mother likes         music.         The game board would then appear as shown in FIG. 148. Now it's         red's turn. Red has no color groups adjacent to squares already         played to, but neither does green. In that case, red is free to         play to any open red color group on the game board. Red may want         to avoid playing to the red color group at squares [6,1] and         [6,2], because those squares are adjacent to two green color         groups having a total of six green squares, giving green an         advantage. Red may instead play to the red color group at         squares [4,6] and [4,7], because there are no green squares         adjacent to those squares. If red plays the car and the P tokens         to those squares, red may continue the story by saying,

Just then Adrienne's friend Pierre drove up beside her and offered to give her a lift.

It's now green's turn, and green has no green color groups adjacent to the squares already played, but neither does red. In that case, green can play to any unoccupied green color group on the board. Green may play to the green color group at squares [4,2], [4,3], [5,3], [5,4], playing the E, G, pagoda and saw tokens and continuing the story by saying,

-   -   “Thank you, Pierre!” said Adrienne. “I'm going to the Gustav         Eiffel Music Emporium to buy a musical present for my mother.         What do you think she would like better, Chinese music, or a         musical saw?”         The board would then appear as shown in FIG. 149. It's red's         turn, and red may notice that playing to square [3,3] and then         [4,4] with no green squares adjacent to them would allow red to         continue playing to the red color group and [6,4] and [6,5]         before green will be able to take a turn. Red may for example         play the boat token to square [3,3], the Statue of Liberty token         to square [3,4], and the snowflake and laughing tokens to         squares [6,4] and [6,5], and continue the story saying,     -   “My mother took a cruise to New York City last winter and heard         a man playing musical saw in the subway”, said Pierre. “She said         it sounded like a sick cow,” he continued, which made Adrienne         laugh.         The game board would then appear as shown in FIG. 150. It's         green's turn, and green must play to the only green color group         adjacent to occupied squares, at squares [6,6] and [6,7],         perhaps using the I and crazy tokens and continuing the story by         saying,

“Oh Pierre,” said Adrienne, “when I'm with you I feel like such an idiot. You make me crazy!” The game board would then appear as shown in FIG. 151. It's red's turn, and red has no adjacent red squares, but neither does green, so red can play to any unoccupied red color group. Red has used 9 of 12 tokens and green has used 8 tokens. Red may notice that by playing to the red group at squares [1,2] and [1,3], green will then have to play to the green group at squares [2,1] and [3,1]. It will then be red's turn, and since neither red nor green will be have any adjacent squares of their color, red will be able to play anywhere and will win the game by playing for example to the single square at [1,7]. Play would continue with red playing the 1 and the F tokens and saying,

“You're the one for me, Adrienne,” said Pierre. “You're my favorite.”

Green would play the truck and star tokens and say,

-   -   “Oh Pierre, that's a truckload of nonsense,” replied Adrienne.         “You're a star when it comes to flattery.”         Red would play the red color token and might finish the story by         saying,

“Adrienne,” said Pierre, “you embarrass me! I'm as red as a beet!” The end.

The final board position is shown as FIG. 152.

Broad Embodiment

In broad embodiment, the present invention is a strategy game of players taking turns placing tokens on groups of colored squares that occur pseudo-randomly on one of a large number of possible game boards assembled from game board segments. As an enhancement to the strategy game, the tokens are printed with alphabetic characters, numerals or images that are used to tell a story.

Scope and Spirit of the Invention

While the foregoing written description of the invention enables one of ordinary skill to make and use the invention, those of ordinary skill will understand and appreciate the existence of variations, combinations, and equivalents of the specific embodiment, method, and examples herein. The invention should therefore not be limited by the above described embodiment, method, and examples, but should include all embodiments and methods within the scope and spirit of the invention. 

I claim:
 1. A method of playing a game, comprising the steps of, providing a number of flat game board segments printed with a pseudo-random arrangement of squares of different colors on one or both sides; providing a number of game tokens; assigning a color to each player by some random means such as shuffling flat tokens face down that have different colors on one side and the players drawing from them; determining the order of play by some means such as according to the color drawn by the player; arranging the game board segments into a game board by selecting, flipping and/or rotating the game board segments and laying them side by side; providing a certain number of game tokens for each player; taking turns placing game tokens on groups of adjacent unoccupied colored squares of the player's color adjacent to occupied squares, or passing the turn if no such squares are available; or on any unoccupied group of the player's color if no players have any unoccupied squares adjacent to occupied squares; continuing until one player has used all his/her tokens, which player is the winner.
 2. A game apparatus consisting of, a number of flat game board segments printed on one or both sides with a pseudo-random arrangement of squares of different colors such that they can be arranged in various orientations producing a number of possible game boards consisting of groups of adjacent squares of the same color; a number of game tokens that may be played to groups of colored squares of the player's assigned color.
 3. A method of playing a game, comprising the steps of, providing a number of flat game board segments printed with a pseudo-random arrangement of squares of different colors on one or both sides; providing a number of flat game tokens, printed on one side with alphabetic characters, numbers, symbols or images; assigning a color to each player by shuffling flat tokens face down that have different colors on one side and the players selecting from them; determining the order of play according to the color drawn by the player; arranging the game board segments into a game board by selecting, flipping and/or rotating game board segments and laying them side by side; shuffling game tokens face down and each player drawing a certain number of game tokens; taking turns placing game tokens on groups of adjacent unoccupied colored squares of the player's color adjacent to occupied squares, or passing the turn if no such squares are available; or on any unoccupied group of the player's color if no players have any unoccupied squares adjacent to occupied squares; telling a continuing story inspired by the alphabetic characters, numbers, symbols or images on the tokens; continuing until one player has used all his/her tokens, which player is the winner.
 4. A game apparatus consisting of, a number of flat game board segments printed on one or both sides with a pseudo-random arrangement of squares of different colors such that they can be arranged in various orientations producing a number of possible game boards consisting of groups of adjacent squares of the same color; a number of flat game tokens, printed on one side with alphabetic characters, numbers, symbols and images. 